Caring for Creation
Posted on Mar 19, 2025 by Shari Van Baale
The Creation Care Team is a collection of people from Salem Lutheran Church, Overland Park Lutheran Church, and Overland Park Presbyterian Church that meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. by Zoom to discuss issues and to schedule events related to God’s creation — the natural environment. Next up is a retreat sponsored by the Creation Care Team from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 22 at Hollis Renewal Center. Please see the following link for details: https://lrc-css.square.site/lrc-retreat.
Next, I want to share the basis for my love of nature. This photo shows my son Ben on the butte overlooking my parents’ farm in southwestern North Dakota. About 20 miles on the other side of the horizon lies the cemetery where family members on my mom’s side are buried, going back to my great-great grandparents. To say I feel connected to the land, and to that particular land, is an understatement. It’s where I feel tied to my ancestors; sometimes I still visit my grandparents in the cemetery — and my aunt places flowers there on Memorial Day — although they left this earth 25-30 years ago. My feelings match the scripture for today (Psalm 65:5-13). In Verse 8, the Psalmist claims, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” I can certainly relate to that!
If Salem’s mission is for each of us to Encounter God, Grow in Faith, and Serve the World, then spending time in nature is how I often “Encounter God.” My love for nature sometimes leads to competing priorities (sorry, choir!) as I skip church once a month to attend bird walks led by my local birding store (Wild Birds Unlimited). My father has been a birdwatcher for 50 years, and I enjoy walking in parks with binoculars and identification books he donated. During a recent cold snap, I took a bird walk in Shawnee Mission Park, saw a yellow-rumped warbler, and learned it has an enzyme allowing it to eat juniper berries. This adaptation allows the species to survive winter temperatures far below what other warblers (which must migrate south) can endure. This bird provides an example of adaptation, allowing it to survive challenging conditions. And it provides me with hope while attempting to adapt to challenging conditions in my own life and as a congregation. Jesus reminds of our own humility and resilience when he states, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)
God’s creation can also help us to Grow in Faith and to Serve the World, as shown in this picture. This dust storm on I-70 last Saturday killed at least eight people. Such events — including earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes (which are often called “acts of God”) — may prompt us to Grow in Faith, as we realize our human control of the natural world isn’t complete. In such circumstances I’m reminded of the difference between a New Testament God — loving, accepting, grace-granting — and Old Testament interpretations of God, which attribute omnipotence and omniscience to God/Yahweh/Jehovah. Specifically, the ten plagues of Egypt in the Book of Exodus come to mind. Hail, locusts, livestock diseases, and flies are all “plagues” that modern farmers still must deal with. In the face of such challenges — either crop loss or motor vehicle death during a dirt storm — each of us would likely offer service as best we can (I sometimes think of farmers when helping at Pantry Pack, especially when stocking a can of corn or a bag of beans), thereby living out Salem’s final mission component of Serving the World.
Sometimes in nature, we Encounter God, Grow in Faith, and Serve the World almost simultaneously as we celebrate the joy of God’s creation through a beautiful sunset, Grow in Faith when natural events like dust storms threaten our security, and Serve the World as we aid victims of floods and famines. I trust and pray we will continue living out all three aspects of our mission together, especially as birds like the yellow-rumped warbler faithfully continue to sing around us.
For God’s creation,
Paul Trana